Liverpool head into tomorrow’s game against Manchester City with some injury issues dangling over them.
Although they’ve seen all three of Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Darwin Nunez return recently, the Reds are still missing some notable names.
Perhaps the biggest miss of all is goalkeeper Alisson Becker. It’s fair to say that the superb form of Caoimhin Kelleher has meant that Liverpool have gotten by just fine without Alisson so far. But the Brazilian is quite possibly the best ‘keeper in the world. You want him out their for the biggest games.
Kelleher has been brilliant since stepping up to fill Alisson’s gloves and nobody should be worrying about him for tomorrow. But as former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson told BBC Football Daily yesterday, the 25-year-old is still a ‘bracket below’ both Alisson and Manchester City’s Ederson.
“He’s played in cup finals hasn’t he, he’s played in big games and he’s shown that he’s good enough for that level,” Robinson explained. “Is he as good as Alisson, is he as good as Ederson? No, I wouldn’t put him in that bracket. But he’s a very good goalkeeper. He’s an excellent number two and an excellent option for the manager to have if Alisson’s not there.
“There’s a bracket of goalkeeper, Ederson and Alisson for me sit at the top of that in the Premier League. Kelleher’s in the bracket below that. He’s not at the same level as Alisson. They’ll have a decision to make in the long-term if Alisson was to ever move on. But as far as him playing I’d have no worries about him whatsoever.”
Kelleher not at Ederson’s level
No Liverpool fan in their right mind would really argue with this one. While Kelleher has been an absolute superstar over the past month or so, he is not Alisson, or Ederson.
The two Brazil internationals are arguably the two best goalkeepers in the world at the moment. We’d comfortably back Alisson of course, but others have disagreed with that and are entitled to their opinion.
Ederson has certainly earned the right to be in the debate at the very least. Having won it all with City as their starting goalkeeper, he’s unquestionably elite.
Although he could be a better shot-stopper, the 30-year-old is probably the best goalkeeper in history at using the ball with his feet.
For Kelleher, there’s absolutely no shame in being below these two. The Irishman has barely played 50 senior games in his career so far. He’s just getting going.
In terms of the game tomorrow, that is obviously an area that City will feel they have the upper hand on Liverpool. But as Robinson says, that shouldn’t concern the Reds too much.
Having started Liverpool’s last seven games, Kelleher has rhythm. His form over that stretch has been terrific and he appears to be growing in confidence all the time.
There remains a question over whether the Ireland international will be at Liverpool to fulfil his obvious potential. Good as he’s been, there’s no getting past Alisson for now. If he moves on and takes the No.1 shirt somewhere else though, you can see him jumping into that top bracket alongside Ederson in the years ahead.